Female inmates sterilized in state prisons without approval

Former Valley State Prison for Women inmate Kimberly Jeffrey spends time with her son Noel, 3, at their San Francisco home. During her imprisonment in 2010, Jeffrey says a doctor pressured her to agree to be sterilized while she was sedated and strapped to a surgical table for a C-section. She refused.NOAH BERGER, FOR THE CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING

Doctors under contract with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation sterilized nearly 150 female inmates from 2006 to 2010 without required state approvals, the Center for Investigative Reporting has found.

At least 148 women received tubal ligations in violation of prison rules during those five years – and there are perhaps 100 more dating back to the late 1990s, according to state documents and interviews.

From 1997 to 2010, the state paid doctors $147,460 to perform the procedure, according to a database of contracted medical services for state prisoners.

The women were signed up for the surgery while they were pregnant and housed at either the California Institution for Women in Corona or Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla, which is now a men's prison.

Former inmates and prisoner advocates maintain that prison medical staff coerced the women, targeting those deemed likely to return to prison in the future.

Crystal Nguyen, a former Valley State Prison inmate who worked in the prison's infirmary during 2007, said she often overheard medical staff asking inmates who had served multiple prison terms to agree to be sterilized.

One former Valley State inmate who gave birth to a son in October 2006 said the institution's obstetrician-gynecologist, Dr. James Heinrich, repeatedly pressured her to agree to a tubal ligation.

"As soon as he found out that I had five kids, he suggested that I look into getting it done. The closer I got to my due date, the more he talked about it," said Christina Cordero, 34, who spent two years in prison for auto theft. "He made me feel like a bad mother if I didn't do it."

Cordero, released in 2008 and now living in Upland, agreed, but she says, "Today, I wish I would have never had it done."

The allegations echo those made nearly a half-century ago, when forced sterilizations of prisoners, the mentally ill and the poor were commonplace in California. State lawmakers banned such practices in 1979.

In an interview with CIR, Heinrich said he provided an important service to poor women who faced health risks in future pregnancies because of past cesarean sections. The 69-year-old Bay Area physician denied pressuring anyone and expressed surprise that local contract doctors had charged for the surgeries. He described the $147,460 total as minimal.

"Over a 10-year period, that isn't a huge amount of money," Heinrich said, "compared to what you save in welfare paying for these unwanted children – as they procreated more."

The top medical manager at Valley State Prison from 2005 to 2008 characterized the surgeries as an empowerment issue for female inmates, providing them withthe same options as women on the outside. Daun Martin, a licensed psychologist, said she also suspected that some pregnant women, particularly those on drugs or who were homeless, would commit crimes so they could return to prison for better health care.

"Do I criticize those women for manipulating the system because they're pregnant? Absolutely not," Martin, 73, said. "But I don't think it should happen. And I'd like to find ways to decrease that."

Martin denied approving the surgeries, but at least 60 tubal ligations were done at Valley State while Martin was in charge, according to the state contracts database.

Federal and state laws ban inmate sterilizations if federal funds are used, reflecting concerns that prisoners might feel pressured to comply. California used state funds instead, but since 1994, the procedure has required approval from top medical officials in Sacramento on a case-by-case basis.

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Former Valley State Prison for Women inmate Kimberly Jeffrey spends time with her son Noel, 3, at their San Francisco home. During her imprisonment in 2010, Jeffrey says a doctor pressured her to agree to be sterilized while she was sedated and strapped to a surgical table for a C-section. She refused. NOAH BERGER, FOR THE CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
The California Institution for Women in Corona was one of two state prisons where female inmates were sterilized without required state approvals. At least 148 women received tubal ligations in violation of prison rules from 2006 to 2010. COURTESY CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION
Crystal Nguyen, with her 6-year-old son, Neiko, in Pittsburg, is a former Valley State Prison for Women inmate. She worked in the prison's infirmary in 2007 and says she often overheard medical staff asking inmates who had served multiple prison terms to agree to be sterilized. NOAH BERGER/, FOR THE CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
The California Institution for Women in Corona was one of two state prisons where female inmates were sterilized without required state approvals. At least 148 women received tubal ligations in violation of prison rules from 2006 to 2010. COURTESY OF THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION
Crystal Nguyen, a former Valley State Prison for Women inmate, worked in the prison's infirmary in 2007 and says she often overheard medical staff asking inmates who had served multiple prison terms to agree to be sterilized. NOAH BERGER, FOR THE CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
The California Institution for Women in Corona was one of two state prisons where female inmates were sterilized without required state approvals. At least 148 women received tubal ligations in violation of prison rules from 2006 to 2010. COURTESY OF THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION
At Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla, Calif., the top medical manager from 2005 to 2008, Daun Martin, characterized tubal ligations as an empowerment issue for female inmates, providing them the same options as women on the outside. COURTESY OF THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION

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